


An Epilogue for Dressrosa

by MrsSaxon



Category: One Piece
Genre: Because as we all know, But especially for Law, Dressrosa, Dressrosa was an emotional time for all of us, Law just had a lot of feelings okay, M/M, Overwhelmed by the fact that Luffy exists, Secretly this fic is actually Luffy/meat, Spoilers for Luffy eating meat, That's Luffy's actual one true love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-11
Updated: 2018-04-11
Packaged: 2019-04-21 14:47:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14287239
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MrsSaxon/pseuds/MrsSaxon
Summary: The great, and terrible, thing about Luffy was that he was exactly what Law thought he was. And, after today, Law was sure he would never recover from knowing that.





	An Epilogue for Dressrosa

There was a party. As he understood it, there was always a party, with meat and drink; a ritual as obligatory as it was time-honored.  They were sitting around a fire in the soft dirt and debris of their victory. It perhaps wasn’t much of a celebration, but it was more than Law ever hoped he’d have.

Usopp was telling stories of even wilder parties after even wilder adventures, most certainly exaggerated beyond recognition from the original. The Tontattans were awestruck, hanging onto every word with glistening eyes and slack mouths. Franky was humoring him, chiming in with the occasional clarification or flamboyant gesture. Robin was smiling contentedly, Zoro was drinking, and Luffy… was eating like it was his last day on earth.

Law smiled despite himself. He wanted to tell Luffy he should have done that when they first got here. He wanted to tell Luffy he deserved so much more than meat and drink for what he’d done. He wanted to tell Luffy what this meant to him, why he’d dragged them out here, why he’d risked their lives, why he’d lied…

“Oy, Tra-guy!”

Law’s eyes snapped into focus. Luffy was waving a mostly-bare bone at him emphatically. “What’s up with you?”

“Nothing,” Law shuffled, turning so he could no longer stare at Luffy so obviously, “I don’t party.”

“Course you do!” A rubber hand smacked him firmly between the shoulder blades, bucking Law forward. “Here, have a piece of meat!” Luffy dangled a succulent piece in front of his face. “So good! So juicy!” Luffy started to drool just looking at it, even though he had his plate piled high with identical pieces.

“I’d take the meat.”

Law glanced over at Zoro, seated next to Luffy on his other side. Zoro didn’t look up from his drink as he muttered, “He doesn’t offer meat to just anyone.”

Law took the meat. It sat, unhelpfully, on his plate, becoming the object of Law’s pensive staring. He couldn’t very well pour out his heart to a piece of meat, but, it was better than being caught staring like an empty-headed fool.

A stretchy hand crept toward the neglected morsel on Law’s plate.

“Oy!” Law smacked his hand away.

“Aw, if you’re not even going to eat it!” Luffy pouted, whining and rubbing his smacked hand.

Law rolled his eyes and at last opened his mouth to gnaw on the sustenance. To be honest, he needed it; he was exhausted to the point of giddiness. His body would thank him for putting some energy back in it after that fight.

But when he had licked the bone clean, he was no closer to soothing the tension in his chest. He’d hauled Straw Hat out here to… do the very thing he did. That Straw Hat chose to do of his own free will, for his own reasons. Law had never told him why they came, why he needed to defeat Doflamingo. So Luffy couldn’t have possibly done this for him. But the feeling in his chest. Even though this is exactly what he wanted, everything had turned out for the best, why did he feel this way?

Law stood fast, so fast he almost slipped on the rubble, his head spun; oh, fuck, he was in bad shape, he’d forgotten that.

“Oy, oy, oy!” Franky was already reaching out to balance him, “Slow down, Tra-guy!”

“Strawhatter,” Law muttered, glancing down at Luffy’s full, frowning face when he could make out just one Luffy, “meet me later.” And he walked out of the circle of firelight, leaning on broken buildings and houses when he needed to. It quickly became cold, past the edge of the fire, but this was all Law could think to do. He just wanted to, needed to, explain himself, to tell Luffy, to tell him… thank you.

Law collapsed on a comfortable looking rock a few meters away. Maybe it had been Pica earlier or maybe it had been carved up by the bird cage. In the dark it was, mercifully, just a rock. Law craned his head over his shoulder to make sure the fire was still within sight. It twinkled, a warm spark in the night, his to be a part of if he wanted. The thought made Law smile as he slumped against the rock and closed his eyes.

“Oy! Oy, Tra? Traffy! Wake up!”

Law’s eyes slowly opened and found Straw Hat standing over him, nudging him awake.

“Mmmmpf, Strawhatter,” Law pushed himself into a sitting position and yawned. He must have dozed off, exhaustion and relaxation getting the better of him. He couldn’t remember a single dream. His breath caught. Not one dream, just a good, restful sleep. Law sighed in relief. Maybe, then, he could sleep again too.

“Oy, stay awake, Tra-guy,” Luffy nudged him again, “You said you wanted to talk to me.”

“I did, I did,” Law nodded, his hands tightening on his sword now that the moment was here, “I think we should break the alliance.”

“Awaaaaugh,” Luffy groaned, “Not this again! I told you, _I_ decide when the alliance is over, you bastard!”

“You’ve already done too much,” Law shook his head, “I can never repay-”

“Shut up, Traffy, shut up,” Luffy waved him away with a yawn, “If that’s all you wanted to say-”

“I was ready to die here!” Law snapped.

That got Luffy’s attention. His brow started to crease. “Oy, Law, don’t say-”

“I was going to die here, fighting Doflamingo. But I’m not dead,” Law shook his head, “Because of you.”

The air was still for a moment. Law realized the party must have ended ages ago; there was just the night between them now.

“So?”

“So?!” Law gasped, but what other answer could he expect? “I dragged you here on a suicide run to settle a grudge I’ve had against Doflamingo for 13 years-”

Luffy rolled his eyes. “I didn’t do it for any of tha-”

“I know you didn’t! But you did… you did do it. You did the impossible,” Law swallowed, surprised to find speech hard now, “You did… exactly what I thought you’d do. I’m trying to say THANK YOU damn it!” Law screamed, hoping he wasn’t getting any tears on Luffy.

In the moonlight, he could make out Luffy’s grimace and a strange, shy look in his eye, like he didn’t know what to do with anything Law was saying. He probably didn’t.

Law dropped his eyes, trying to slow his breaths. He probably should have known better than to bring this up, he probably should have left it. Luffy didn’t care why, Luffy had never cared. Law rubbed his face and prepared to stand.

“You’re welcome.”

Law looked up. Luffy had his face hidden by his straw hat, tilted down. His voice was soft though, not the belligerent maniac Law was used to. This was something else entirely.

Law thought back to when he had first seen Luffy, on Sabaody, where he watched him punch a Celestial Dragon for no other reason than he had hurt one of Luffy’s friends. He remembered the spark of Luffy igniting in him the hope that finally he could destroy Doflamingo and avenge Rocinante. He remembered that first, foolish flush of infatuation, thinking it was a passing thing, that he would use Straw Hat’s strength and be done with him. Oh, how wrong he was.

After today, Law doubted he’d ever fall in love with another person again; Luffy eclipsed them all.

Law stood, and by the time he was standing, Straw Hat was beaming at him, full and bright as the stars. “You’re really stupid, Traffy, you know that?”

Law smiled.


End file.
